Milling-machine.



W. T. SHEPARD.

MILLING MAGHINE.

. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 1911.

' 3 SHEETS-$113151 l.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPN 00.. WAsmNo'wN. D. c.

Patented Apr. 2, 1912 075.6 A QKJMMM w. T. SHEPARD.

p--zz I fhuevlon 21 1122mm? Ziffiepard.

. I .ifi arfiey COLUMBIA PL ANOfllAPH ca, WASHINGTON; n. c.

Patented Apr. 2, 1912.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

T. SHEPARD. MILLING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1911.

RAPH c0., WASHINGTON. n. c.

v Patented A r. 2;1912.

a SHEETS-SHEET s.

WILLIA r. SHEPARD, or LE MARS, IOWA.

MILLING-MAbI-IINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. .2, 1912.

Application filed June 16, 1911. Serial N 0. 633,640.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WIL IAM T. SHEPARD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Le Mars,'in the county of Plymouth and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Milling-Machines,,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to milling machines, especially adapted to mill wheat so that the wheat berries will be cut and torn into irregular granular fragments having the hull or bran adhering to the starchy and glutinous matter forming the'body or bulk of said fragments.

To this end the machine of-my invention includes certain novel features of construction and design whereby the grain is subjected to a series of cutting and chopping actions together with some rubbing and roll ing of the fragments formed by such cutting action, the whole operation being not unlike the action of the teeth in chewing and result-ing in a new type of milled product.

It is the object of my invention to effect these results in an eflicient and economical manner by a comparatively simple and unitary machine which produces all of the milling action upon the grain desired in a single operation. The full objectsvand advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and are particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings illustrating the application of my invention in one form, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the whole machine. Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation showing a modified mounting. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the milling shell with the milling cone removed. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3, 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevation view of the milling cone showing the arrangement of feed and cutting grooves thereon. 5 is a fragmentary section on' line 5,5, and Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are similar sections on lines 6, 6, 7, 7, and 8, 8, respectively, of Fig. 4:, showing the different manner in which the grooves are cut in the different parts of the milling cylinder. Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view 'of the-lower flaring part of the shell with the major part of the cone broken away. Fig. 10 is a sectional plan taken on line 10, 10 of Fig. 1. Fig. 11 is a similar view on line 11, 11 of'Fig. 1.

In the carrying out of the principles of my invention I provide a milling shell 12 and a milling roller 13 operating within the shell, said members having distinctive characteristics by reason of which their coo'peration will act upon the wheat to produce a wheat meal having the characteristics above indicated. The shell 12 is preferably formed of a solid block of steel having a bore 14 through the center thereof of general conical shape. The shell may have receiving seats 15 and 16 by which the same may be held suspended in vertical position by means of lower clamps 17 and upper clamps 18 which may be in either of the forms shown in Figs. 10 and 11, respectively, in Fig. 10 the clamps being united at the centers thereof by means of clamping lugs 19 and bolts 20 and having the supporting lugs 21 extending from the corners of the clamps; while in Fig. 11 the clamping lugs 22 and bolts 23 are at the corners of the clamps and the supporting lugs 24 at the sides thereof. For purposes of illustration, the first form is the one shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The clamps 17 and 18 differ only in interior size thereof to adapt the same to engage portions of the shell 12 of corresponding different sizes. The I supporting lugs 21 (or lugs 24 if this form is used) are provided with holes 25 for re ceiving vertical standards 26 to which the clamps may be adjustably secured by means of bolts 27, the standards being secured to the floor or any suitable supporting base, or

the standards may be fitted withshoulders 26 and intervening collars 24 placed between the clamps, and threaded collars 23 screwed down upon the top clamp. By one or the other of these means the shell is sus-' pended in an upright position so that the axis of the conical opening therein will be exactly vertical. The interior of the shell 12 is shaped for the major part of its length in the form of a frustum ofa cone but at the bottom has a bell-shaped flare 28 from the outer portion of which depends a short cylindrical portion 29. The conical and flared interior is provided with a series of grooves 30 of the form shown in Figs. 10 and 11, said grooves being disposed at a suitable angle with respect to the axis of the shell and running out onto the flare 28 but terminating at the beginning of the cylin-- drical portion 29, the grooves becomingprogressively shallower from top to bottom. Thepreferred form of grooves, as shown,

are somewhat under-cut so as to leave cutting edges 31,. as clearly indicated in Figs. 10 and 11, for a purpose to be later described. The cylindrical portion 29 is provided with a series of rows of perforations 32 extending from the interior of the shell to the exterior, as clearly shown in Fig. 9. The perforations 33 comprising the top row are placed at the point where the flare 28 joins the cylindrical portion 29 and each perforation occupies a position between two of the grooves 30 and has a short vanishing groove 34 extending upwardly onto the flaring portion 28, as clearly shown in Fig. 9. The interior of the cylindrical portion 29 is perfectly smooth except for the apertures 32 and 33.

Mounted in a lower support 35 and an upper support 36 are the lower and upper portions 37 and 38, respectively, of a vertical shaft for supporting the milling roller 13. The roller 13 may be a solid block of steel having shafts 37 and 38 extending entirely through the same or such shafts may be in two pieces extending within the roller 13 only the distance requisite to secure such roller rigidly with the shafts. The member 35 is provided with a bearing 39 in which is threaded a bolt 40 upon which rest hardened steel balls 41 for receiving the shaft or spindle 37. By screwing the bolt 40 the roller 13 may be raised or lowered and the distance of the periphery thereof from the inner wall of the shell 12 may thereby be accurately adjusted. The members 35 and 36 may also be adjustably secured to the standards 26 by means of set bolts 42. The upper supporting member 36 has a bearing 43 for receiving the upper shaft 38, and the bearings 39 and 43 are so positioned as to bring the axial center of the shafts 37 and 38 and the roller 13 in the line of the axial center of the shell 12.

The milling roller 13, as above stated, will preferably be formed of a single block of steel assembled upon the shafts 37, 38 which shafts must be set so as to center exactly in the center of the roller 13. The roller 13 is of nearly the same shape as the hollow cavity within the shell 12, the upper portion being in the form of the frustum of a cone curving downward into an outwardly laring portion 44, at the outer periphery of which is the cylindrical extension 45. The roller 13 is grooved in a characteristic manner for producing in cooperation with the shell 12 the results sought in connection with my food and method of preparing the same. For about one quarter of the length of the upper portion of the roller a series of broad shallow under-cut sharply diagonal grooves 46 are provided running down from the top of the roller in a direction slanting backward from the direction of rotation of the roller, the under-cutting of the grooves being such that there will be formed intervening such grooves a series of elongated toothlike corrugations 47 the edges of which point forwardly in the direction of rotation of the roller 13, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The grooves 46 operate primarily as a force feed for driving the grain downward into the milling grooves opening from said grooves 46 later to be described, but the teeth 47 cooperating with the grooves 30 and teeth 31 on the inside of the shell also have a shearing action upon the grain cutting each berry cleanly one or more times while the grain is being fed into the lower grooves. Extending from the lower ends of the grooves 46 through the flaring portion 44 and to the edge thereof are a series of smaller grooves 48, the same being much closer together than the grooves 46 so that a plurality of said grooves 48, preferably three or four, extend from the lower ends of each of the grooves 46. The grooves 48 extend diagonally along the surface of the roller 13 and out on the flare 44 having approximately the same angle with respect to the axis of the roller that the grooves 30 have with respect to the axis of the shell 12, the angularity of the grooves on roller and shell, respectively, being oppositely disposed so that as the roller rotates within the shell the teeth 49 formed by the grooves 48 will have an acutely angular shearing action from top to bottom against the teeth 31 of the shell 12. The showing of the relative angular disposition of the grooves 30 within the shell and the grooves 48 on the roller, as the same appears in Figs. 1 and 2 especially, as well as in other figures of the drawings, will be apparent when it is noted that the part of the roller 13, viewed in the figures, is necessarily the outside thereof or that part positioned away from the part of the interior of the shell 12, viewed in the figures.

It will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 6 that the grooves 48 being much under-cut form a series of pointed-topped toothlike corrugations, so that the action of the teeth 49 against the teeth 31 is constantly a cutting one with practically no crushing or grinding effect whatever. Upon the flare 44, however, the grooves become very much shallower and in connection with the smooth surface of the flare form flattopped blunt corrugations 50, as clearly shown in Fig. 7. In addition to the grooves 48 which extend across the flare, other sets of grooves 51 and 52, respectively, are provided extending from the point where the grooves 48 enter the flare angularly in both directions to the edge of the flare, as shown in Fig. 4. This construction results in breaking up the corrugations 50 into a series of flat-topped teeth 50 with grooved channels all about the same so that the grain which has by this time as to form flat-topped corrugations 54 between the same, said corrugations having straight front faces, as. shown in Fig. 8. As the cut and torn meaLformed in the portions of the machine above the cylindrical portion 45 feeds down into the grooves 53 it will be forced out through the holes 32 at the same time being chopped as it passes through said holes both by the corrugations 54 and by the ends of the teeth coming out to the edge of the flaring portion 44, this latter action taking place'only 1n connection with the top row of holes .33. All parts of the meal which do not passthrough the holes 32 and 33 will finally feed down the grooves 53 and drop out at the bottom.

A hopper 55 is arranged to surround the lower portion of the shell 12, said hopper being provided with a slanting bottom 56, a projecting collar 57 surrounding the shaft 37 and an exit chute or spout 58. A chute 59 may be adjustably connected by means of a link 60 having a slot 61with which 006perates a thumb-screw 62, the chute being hinged at 63 to one of the walls of a receptacle 64, the thumb-screw 62 cotiperating with another wall to hold the chute locked in adjusted position. The chute 59 is hinged at a point such that the bottom thereof will be from ten to fifteen inches below chute 58 and is provided with a screen 65 which may preferably be made. removable so that screens of different sizes may be employed for the production of meal having more or less fine flour, as desired, said screen being positioned so as to receive the meal directly as it falls and being little, if any, larger in area than that of a cross-section of the stream of falling meal. The chute 59 may lead to a receptacle 66 where the product is received, which may be a connection to a storage bin or any suitable packing mechanism. The finest material con-' sisting of very fine flour and ciliary hair dust will sift through the screen 65 and be deposited in the receptacle 64 from which it may be removed by means of the door 67.

The milling roller 13 is rotated by means of gearing 68 driven by any suitable source of power. The grain is fed from the hopper 69 through a small pipe or chute 70 which may enter a compartment 71 surrounding the shaft 38 and leading into the top opening of the shell 12. I have found it to be preferable to provide an intermittent feed.

To accomplish this a lever 72 is centrally pivoted at 73 to an arm 74, said lever having pivoted thereto a pair of slide valves 75 and 76 extending within the chute 70 and spaced apart so that in operation the desired amount of grain will be intermittently fed down into the feed box 71. The lower valve 7 5 is held normally in closed position by means of a spring 77, and the valves are operated by means of a cam 78 secured directly to the shaft 38 by means of a set-screw 79, said cam operating directly upon the lever 72 so as to actuate said lever at each revolution of the shaft momentarily to open the valve 7 5 and simultaneously close the valve 76 to permit the desired amount of grain to feed down into the feed box.

It will be noted that the roller, 13 tapers throughout its conical portion to a slightly greater degree than does the smaller portion of the interior of the shell 12, so that the grooves on the upper part'of the roller 13 are spaced farther from the similar portions of the grooves on the shell 12 gradually coming nearer said shell-grooves all the way down to the flare. Of course, the relative distance between the shell and roller may be varied at will by means of the spindle adjustment 40. The above indicated variation in distance between these parts is necessary by reason of the fact that shearing and cutting action of the sets of grooves on the roller and shell, respectively, progressively reduces the size of the fragments comprising the meal being formed.

The operation of my machine has been very fully given in connection with the detailed description thereof.

The grain feeds upon the top of the roller 13 within the upper opening of the shell 12 where it is caught by the feed grooves 46 and thereby forced downward into the milling grooves'48. The teeth or corrugations 47 in the first instanc and thereafter the toothlike corrugations 49 through their shearing action against the oppositely disposed toothlike corrugations 30 on the interior of the shell 12 operate to cut the wheat berries into fragments. This cutting has the effect of reducing the wheat berries to meal composed of particles of the right size, said particles not. being crushed or pulverized into flour, and the hulls being similarly cut but so that the resulting particles of bran are still held fast to the body portions of said fragments. Upon the flare the toothlike members 50 operate roughly to tear or chew these wheat particles rendering them irregular and at the same time producing a small amount of roughly pulverized flour. This action does not, however, remove the bran particles from the starchy and glutinous solids adhering thereto. ward through the grooves 53 on the cylindrical portion 45 where it is largely squeezed out through the apertures 32 and 33, being at the same time additionally chopped by the reverse corrugations 54. A very small amount of fine material, composed as above stated of finely pulverized flour and ciliary dust, is removed by the screen 65, the meal flowing into the receptacle or packing device 66 being the finished product ready for shipment and use. It will be noted, therefore, that my machine performs all of the operations necessary to produce the white wheat meal in condition ready for consumption by a series of operations performed by a single milling roller and said operations being absolutely continuous.

I claim 1. A milling machine comprising a vertically positioned hollow shell open at top and bottom, the upper part of the cavity within said shell being in form the frustum of a cone, the lower part of said cavity flaring outwardly and extending into a depending cylindrical portion, and a milling roller of substantially the same shape as said cavity working therein, the conical portion of said milling roller being provided with grooves and tooth-like corrugations, the flaring portion with flat-topped rubbing teeth and intervening grooves and the cylindrical. portion with flat-topped corrugations and intervening grooves, partof all of said grooves intercommunicating.

2. A machine for milling grain comprising a vertically positioned hollow shell open at top and bottom and provided with grooves extending diagonally on the interior surface thereof, said shell having an outwardly flaring portion at the lower end thereof and a cylindrical portion joined to and extending downwardly from said flaring portion, a roller operatively positioned within the shell, said roller being provided with a correspondingly flaring portion and having diagonal grooves angularly disposed with respect to the grooves on the shell, and means to rotate the roller.

3. In combination with a vertically positioned hollow shell, a milling roller having a series of broad shallow undercut and sharply diagonal grooves extending a portion of the way from the top and about the periphery of said roller, the roller being further provided with a series of undercut grooves narrower, more numerous and extending more perpendicularly than the first named grooves and having a plurality thereof opening into each of said first named grooves, and means to rotate the roller within the shell.

4. A machine for milling grain comprising a hollow vertically positioned shell provided with toothlike corrugations on the interior thereof, a vertical roller working within and of substantially the same shape as the interior of said shell provided with feeding grooves, toothlike corrugations on the roller cooperating with the similar corrugations on the shell, and means on the roller cooperating with a portion of said corrugations on the shell to rub and tear the fragments of grain formed by the coaction of the corrugations on the roller and the shell.

5. A milling machine comprising a vertically positioned hollow shell open at top and bottom, the upper part of the cavity within said shell being in form the frustum of a cone and the lower part flaring outwardly, a roller of substantially the same shape as said cavity working within and coacting with said shell, the flaring portion of the roller being provided with flat-topped tooth-like rubbing members.

6. A milling machine comprising a vertically positioned hollow shell open at top and bottom, the upper part of the cavity within said shell being in form the frustum of a cone and the lower part flaring outwardly, a roller of substantially the same shape as said cavity working within and coacting with said shell, the conical portion of the roller being provided with feeding grooves and a plurality of other grooves extending from each feeding groove and forming intervening cutting members, and the flaring portion of said roller being provided with flat-topped tooth-like rubbing members.

7. A milling machine comprising a vertically positioned hollow shell open at top and bottom, the upper part of the cavity within said shell being in form the frustum of a cone and the lower part flaring outwardly, rearwardly pointing corrugations extending diagonally on the interior surface of both portions of said cavity, a roller working within said shell of substantially the same shape as said cavity, said roller being provided with feeding grooves at the top thereof and having forwardly pointing corrugations extending diagonally on the conical portion of its surface to the flare, said corrugations extending out upon the flare and being crossed by numerous grooves on said flare thereby forming on the flaring portion a series of flat-topped toothlike members everywhere surrounded by grooves.

8. A milling machine comprising a vertically positioned hollow shell open at top and bottom, the upper part of the cavity within said shell being in form the frustum of a cone, the lower part of said cavity flaring outwardly and extending into a depending cylindrical portion, the walls of the shell surrounding said cylindrical portion being provided with a series of perforations, a grooved milling roller of sub stantially the same shape as said cavity working therein, the cylindrical portion on the milling roller being provided with flattopped corrugations for chopping the fragments of meal and forcing the same through said perforations.

9. A milling machine comprising a vertically positioned hollow shell open at top and bottom, the upper part of the cavity within said shell being in form the frustuni of a cone, the lower part of said cavity flaring outwardly and extending into a depending cylindrical portion, the walls of the shell surrounding said cylindrical por- Gopies of this patentrmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

tion being providedwith a series of perforations, some of said perforations having short vanishing grooves extending therefrom out on the flare,and a grooved milling roller of substantially the same shape as said cavity working therein.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM T. SHEPARD.

Witnesses:

L. C. GRoNoW, W. P. SHEPARD.

Washington, D. G. 

